But I wonder, how would it work in practice? Do we have anything else remotely like this? Music for a handbell choir is normally sheet music, and RealTracks don't reproduce the individual notes and voicings of sheet music (you need MIDI for that). RealTracks also don't work for Melody or Soloist notes.

To get RealTracks, somebody has to play and record. In other words, how would it work if you just fed a handbell choir a G13(#11) chord, or even a Bm7, and asked it to record that? Or am I missing something?

Good idea.I guess that hand-bells would have a common pitch, not affected by the pitch transposition engine (which is possible to do). However, they would need to be time-stretched to match tempo etc (which I understand is also possible to do).+1

Handbell choirs will play melodic pieces, because they have to, but there's a lot of choral pieces that in addition to organ/piano/strings accompaniment also has handbell accompaniment which is chordal, as the choir will be singing the melody and melodic harmony. In that setting, the bells become more of an accompaniment instrument, much like the piano or organ. For strictly bell choir music, I agree, this wouldn't work well, because the bell choir will be playing melody and harmony often in unison syncopation.

Granted, as RealTracks, you won't have control over what rhythms they play, but that's the same as with any other instrument RealTrack. I think it would make a nice addition to the RealTracks and would definitely be great for those of us who are involved in church music programs.

As indicated earlier in my first post I think this is a great request and fully support it.

Question for others with an opinion. Is there a hand bell expert that PG Music could contact for advise on how best to fulfill the request of creating hand bells Realtracks while also getting the most bang for the buck? I can think of a whole list of questions like:

What are the most used tempo ranges? Are both 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures needed? What are most popular key signatures?

What are the most used tempo ranges? Are both 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures needed? What are most popular key signatures?

I personally wish that every RealTrack instrument came in both 3/4 and 4/4 versions, 8th-even and 16th-even and 8th-triplet (6/8 or 12/8) and 16th-triplet and quarter-triplet (3 against 2), across a variety of tempos. If the player is in the studio, it would be great if they could lay down tracks supporting those variations. I know it would take time to do that, but it would be awesome to not limit those wonderful sounds to, say, even 8 120 4/4.

You wouldn't need to specifically select which tempo and key signature you want; it will do that automatically based on your song tempo and key signature; however, you should be able to select the feel you want among the five feels listed (8th even, 8th triplet, 1/4 triplet, 16th even, 16th triplet).

What are the most used tempo ranges? Are both 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures needed? What are most popular key signatures?

I personally wish that every RealTrack instrument came in both 3/4 and 4/4 versions, 8th-even and 16th-even and 8th-triplet (6/8 or 12/8) and 16th-triplet and quarter-triplet (3 against 2), across a variety of tempos. If the player is in the studio, it would be great if they could lay down tracks supporting those variations. I know it would take time to do that, but it would be awesome to not limit those wonderful sounds to, say, even 8 120 4/4.

You wouldn't need to specifically select which tempo and key signature you want; it will do that automatically based on your song tempo and key signature; however, you should be able to select the feel you want among the five feels listed (8th even, 8th triplet, 1/4 triplet, 16th even, 16th triplet).

But that may just be me.

If PG Music could get this request done, I would tell everyone I know to buy it.

Like what you hear in Band-in-a-Box®? Make sure to Freeze the track(s) or song! Once frozen, it won't be regeneraged or change when you play it again - and your choice isn't final, since you can unfreeze them just as easily:
-press the blue snowflake button within the track name of the mixer window
-press the blue snowflake button within the expanded toolbar of the program (Ctrl + T will swap between the two toolbar views), and select the track(s)

Note: If you want to force Band-in-a-Box® to generate tracks without adjusting the Freeze settings, hold down the Shift key as you press the [Generate and Play] button (the fly-by hint will remind you of that) or choose the menu command Play | Play Special | Generate (even if tracks are frozen).

One of our favourite products, and one that doesn’t seem to come up much in discussions about music making software, is Band-In-A-Box from PG Music. This is probably the longest established and certainly one of the most popular music making software packages of all time. Already packed with features, the latest version has added functions that in our opinion make this an essential buy for musicians in any genre, for keyboard players, guitarists, singers, in fact any musician looking for an outstanding tool to make the most of their creative ideas.
-www.musicrepo.com

The "Download Manager" within Band-in-a-Box® for Windows is a great tool to confirm or help with the installation of your Band-in-a-Box® for Windows program!

What does the Download Manager do?
Automatically installs Band-in-a-Box® content (RealTracks, RealDrums, etc.) in the background, so you don't have to sit there the whole time! It can also confirm that you've completely installed your purchase.

How do you use it?
Within the program, go to Help | Utilities | Run Download/Install Manager now. Using your activation code, the program will analyze the installation folders, and list anything that still needs to be downloaded and installed.

If you have a folder of songs that you'd always like easy access to within Band-in-a-Box, make sure you familiarize yourself with The SongPicker feature, which access the folder that you choose and lock it to!

Access the SongPicker by clicking on the [Song] button next to the title of the song within the main screen of Band-in-a-Box. The first time the SongPicker is opened, you can choose the folder to use to create the list by selecting [Change] and navigating to your preferred directory. Once chosen, select [OK - Make Song List], and Band-in-a-Box does the rest... the next time you click on [Song], you'll be taken directly to your preferred folder!

Learn even more about this feature within Chapter 5 of our Online Manual, here.

If you have a question (or questions!) about Band-in-a-Box®, PowerTracks, RealBand®, or any other PG Music Inc. product - whether it be technical support or pre-sales, there's now an easy one-stop spot to find the answer - our FAQ and Knowledge Base Forum!

Don't want to read through the 600+ posts? Use the Search FAQ option, and you can choose your key search terms to locate the topic and answer you're looking for!

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